Garza Loses a Decision Decisively

When Jaime Garza was knocked out by Juan Meza, it was dismissed by Garza’s followers as a lucky punch.

When Garza was stopped by Darryl Thigpen, it was dismissed as an off-night.

But after Garza lost a 10-round decision Tuesday night at the Forum to Georgie Navarro in the semifinals of a $100,000 featherweight tournament, even Garza’s biggest supporters were hard-pressed to find a way to dismiss the notion that perhaps their man has passed his peak.

Navarro knocked Garza down with an overhand right in the closing seconds of the second round and dominated throughout the fight. He was declared the winner by scores of 98-93, 97-92 and 96-95.

“He’s not washed up,” said Garza’s manager, Benny Georgino, of his fighter in the post-fight gloom of the loser’s locker room. “He’s still rated No. 5 in the World Boxing Council rankings.”

Maybe not washed up. But Garza certainly is not the man who won 40 of 42 amateur fights while growing up on the streets of Pacoima, then roared into the professional ranks, winning his first 40 pro bouts, 38 by knockout, and the WBC super-bantamweight title.

That all came to a crashing end in November of 1984 on one devastating knockout punch by Meza.

It took Garza a little over a year to recover mentally from the shock of that blow. Since then, he had won six of seven fights, losing only to Thigpen.

At first, Garza stalked Navarro just as he had so many others in the old days, flashing that stare that indicated he would have no mercy.

Navarro never flinched, as if he knew it was a blank stare with nothing to back it up.

Using a powerful left hook and a stinging right, Navarro, who lives in Vineland, N.J., continually beat Garza to the punch, opening up cuts over both of the former champion’s eyes.

“I knew if I beat somebody like Garza,” Navarro said, “it would only be a matter of time until I got some recognition.”

Navarro (16-0) will meet meet Hector Lopez, a man he has already beaten, for the tournament title.

And Garza?

“I’ve still got,” he said, “a lot of fight in me.”